What happens when you take puritanical reality dating shows like “Too Hot to Handle,” snarky sarcastic reality dating shows like “FBOY Island,” and combine it with audience voting for the victor, like in “American Idol?”
The show in question is “Love Island,” a CBS dating/game show in which couples compete in a variety of challenges for a $100,000 grand prize. Celebrities who competed on the show became famous themselves.
It’s so popular that it’s spawned sequels and prequels in a number of other countries.
Each season brings a new exotic locale, a new group of eligible bachelor(ette) candidates, and a new set of hilarious challenges that might make or break their chances at the ultimate prize.
By voting on an Android or iPhone app, fans have a hand in determining the winners. Ultimately, though, the winner of the correct envelope gets to decide whether they’ll keep the entire bag of prize money for themselves or split it with the competitor they joined up with. We’re going to rate the three seasons that have already aired in the United States, from worst to greatest.
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Fewer Viewers Returned for Season 3 than for any Prior Season.
This harsh review of “Love Island” Season 3 by The Young Folks claims that Murphy’s Law was the true victor. Nothing went right for the islanders looking for love on the Hawaiian island of Nnole; in fact, they were trapped in a deluge of rain.
According to the author, “the third season was by far the worst,” with romances so bland that the show felt more like “Friendship Island,” and fresh islanders not getting a fair amount of screen time compared to those which were there from day one.
Twitter users shared their disappointment with the show’s third season with messages like “the first half of season 3> the second half” and “Season 3 should have just been in a spam email,” respectively.
Only 1.6 million people watched the season three finale live on television, making it the least watched finale of the whole series. Sure, $1.6 million isn’t chump change, but we’ll get to that in a second. But it’s nothing compared to the past seasons.
In Season 2, the Show Absolutely Dominated in Las Vegas.
Delays in filming caused by COVID-19 prevented Season 2 from airing until recently, but the show has finally settled into its new home in Las Vegas.
This season’s reality dating competition had a unique twist: not one but two people of colour won the big prize (according to US Weekly) and apparently found love.
Both of them had every right to keep the prize money, but their romance died when they were confronted with the realities of the outside world.
It’s no secret which season topped the charts, but season two got off to a good start with over 1.89 million live views for the premiere. Even more people started watching as the season progressed, and the season finale was watched by 2.02 million people.
The Season 3 finale, on the other hand, saw a decline in viewers from the 1.86 million who watched the show’s premiere.
The First Season of Love Island made the Biggest Splash, and that hasn’t Changed.
There are a number of reasons why Season 1 of “Love Island” is superior to the rest. It took place in a luxurious Fijian villa, relied heavily on cliffhanger episodes to keep viewers tuned in, and offered a novel take on the formula for reality dating shows (for American audiences, at least).
There was also the fact that it was brand new and hence exciting, a factor that contributed to the 2.7 million people who watched the premiere.
The season finale drew approximately 2.54 million people, building on the show’s already impressive viewership from its highly anticipated premiere. Fans like @willjames93 liked thinking back on how much more they enjoyed the show when new islanders were introduced in Season 1 as opposed to later seasons that tried (and failed) to accomplish the same.
Fans such as @PaulStans1 were “legitimately heartbroken” when the winning pair broke up after the programme ended, in stark contrast to the scepticism and outright scorn shown toward other breakups in following seasons. Fans appeared to care more for the couples in Season 1 than in subsequent seasons.
However, “Love Island” is not finished yet. TV Series Finale reports that the show has been picked up for a full two more seasons.
It will be interesting to watch what the creators of the show do to re-engage viewers after they move it from CBS to Peacock and perhaps bring back the show’s original spark.
